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Modesto OKs higher trash bills to aid city trees

Getting your trash picked up in Modesto will cost more starting July 1.

The City Council approved this week a 6 percent increase for residential customers and a 20 percent increase for commercial users. Residents will see their garbage bills increase from $27.34 to $29 per month. The charges for commercial users will vary based on the size of their bins and how often their trash is picked up.

For instance, a business or apartment complex with a 2-cubic-yard bin emptied once a week will see its garbage bill increase from $60.52 to $72.60 per month. A commercial user with a 4-cubic-yard bin emptied twice a week will see its bill increase from $242.08 to $290.40.

City officials say even with the increase, Modesto’s rates remain competitive compared with surrounding communities.

Much of the increase is because of higher green waste fees, which are among the charges that show up on monthly garbage bills. The higher green waste fees will allow the city to maintain its community forestry program, in which workers prune and maintain the city’s 200,000 trees along its streets and in its parks.

Forestry is losing much of its funding in the city’s 2014-15 budget, which starts July 1, and the higher green waste fees will make up for that shortfall.

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